Chapter 192
Chapter 192: That Was Close—Almost Got Caught by the First Wife
The colossal black silhouette continued to expand without end. A boundless abyss spread outward from within that darkness, swallowing everything around it completely.
Every trace of color that had existed beneath the green sky was washed away.
Plunged into black, even outlines could no longer be distinguished.
The creatures around her vanished along with it—the silence so complete it felt suffocating.
Gradually, the Crow lifted off from its branch, landed on the ground, and adjusted its monocle.
"Though, I do prefer the name 'Weija' these days."
The monocle above that solitary eye flickered with a silver gleam, showing no sense of incongruity against the black.
Safirose felt the air around her grow cold and dim. The feathers on both her wings trembled faintly.
She slowly pushed herself upright with her legs, every instinct screaming at her to flee.
But...
Her body was bound.
As though some force had locked the muscles of her limbs completely in place.
"Well then, it seems I shouldn't be chatting with you about all this."
"You probably don't have much in the way of independent thought." Weija regarded Safirose with a level gaze, her eye betraying little.
But beneath the restraint, Safirose continued to struggle without pause, straining against the strange binding.
Weija beat her wings and flew to stand directly before Safirose, perching on her shoulder.
"Mm, stop squirming."
"Let me have a proper look."
Her words carried some quality like a spell, flowing into Safirose's ears.
Quickly, Safirose's white body gradually ceased its movement.
Her eyes grew hollow and vacant. Her limbs hung limp, hoisted up by force and left suspended in midair.
The blue light in Weija's eye pulsed and flickered without stop. A thread of Magic Power radiated from her body, slowly dissolving into the surrounding darkness.
She studied Safirose's body with careful attention, as if seeing through her entirely.
As she looked, Weija murmured in quiet amazement:
"To think she could even fuse dragon bloodlines—whoever designed you must have been a genius."
"I see, I see... mm, mm... I've completely figured it out."
Weija nodded with the air of someone who had grasped everything perfectly.
"As a reward, let me send you a little gift."
A glint of cunning rose in the depths of her eye—and then, Weija gave her small, densely black-feathered body a light shake.
A single feather drifted slowly down onto Safirose's body. The moment it touched her white skin, it transformed into a streak of light and merged into her.
When it was done, Weija beat her wings and took flight—then glanced back at Safirose one last time.
"I hope you won't disappoint me."
The words fell, and her small body became a black shooting star, streaking up into the black above.
The boundless darkness around her began to contract, dissolving back into the faint shadow lurking in the corner.
Until the world returned to itself—and Safirose's eyes slowly cleared.
The instant the restraints lifted, she dropped hard to her knees, both hands braced against the ground, gasping for breath.
At that very moment, the creatures around her began to spawn once more.
They surfaced from beneath the green earth, straining to haul their whole bodies free, prowling in every direction in search of a target.
Built like colossal wolves, but with heads like lions—each finger tipped with a sharp claw, the hind legs ending in thick, heavy beast hooves.
The instant they caught sight of Safirose, their pupils contracted to pinpoints. Their limbs churned in a frenzy as they charged toward her at full speed.
Maws lined with jagged fangs tore open wide. They leapt into the air, lunging straight for Safirose.
Yet Safirose—only just returned to her senses—did no more than tilt her head the slightest fraction. She didn't even look.
In an instant, her long blade materialized from nowhere in her hand, slashing through the air in a single arc, carving out a circular wave of pitch-black flame.
Those creatures' bodies—within the space of 1 second—were cleaved in half, tumbling through the air as they fell.
Thud!
The bisected corpses slammed into the ground, splattering trails of green blood in every direction.
Cracks split open in the earth again, one after another, slowly consuming the halved remains.
Safirose slumped to the ground, her serpentine eyes stretched wide.
She stared in disbelief at her own slightly trembling hands...
She had grown stronger.
In Safirose's mind, the image of that black Crow lingered long, and would not fade.
***
Erika sat at the table, eating her congee in small, careful spoonfuls, slowly recovering her strength.
She was glad she had been awake when she first saw Viktor—but...
She raised her head slowly and took a cautious look at the situation before her.
Auréliane sat in a chair, head lowered, her expression distant and unfocused.
And Gwen—the Knight Commander she had known to be so famously composed—was pacing back and forth across the room, visibly anxious.
The current state of things did not look particularly good.
As for the Elf who had set all of this in motion, Erika had naturally already asked around.
A former Council Member—Cocotte Yadh.
Her status was somewhat unusual, for in addition to being a former Council Member, she was also the Queen of the Elven race.
Though how someone who looked so incurably drowsy could possibly be connected to the title of Queen was entirely beyond Erika's comprehension.
Professor Viktor had left the moment he saw her awake, apparently with something to attend to.
Or perhaps he had simply wanted to escape what was clearly a rather delicate atmosphere.
She looked down at the now-empty bowl before her and felt a fraction of her strength returning to her body.
At this point, Erika raised her head again and looked around.
As it happened, Gwen's gaze met hers at that exact moment.
"...Pardon me for asking somewhat directly, Miss Erika."
"Why are you here?"
Her voice carried a note of urgency—nothing like the composure Erika had always associated with her.
Erika herself wasn't entirely sure why either.
Erika gave a faint shake of her pale face and spoke in a weak voice:
"I don't know."
After all, when she had woken up, she had simply found herself here already.
Gwen stood where she was, eyes fixed on Erika.
She could tell Erika's tone was genuine, and her expression and weakened state were not something that could be faked.
But...
She had never missed the Heart of Justice as much as she did now.
That ability to see through the truth or falsehood of words—why had it disappeared?
Under Gwen's unwavering stare, Erika felt the pressure mount considerably. She pressed her lips together.
"Miss Gwen, you understand..."
"Before all of this, I had been training in the Northern Frontier the entire time. I never left."
"But..."
Erika laid out everything that had happened, from beginning to end, without leaving out a single detail.
Including the great black dragon that had appeared above the Northern Frontier—hovering over the Pallid Mage Society's territory in the sky.
General Vladimir had fought back with everything he had, sustaining severe injuries to his body, barely escaping with his life.
Then Erika continued:
"When that creature appeared in the sky above the Northern Frontier, I knew with absolute certainty—it was looking at me."
"And I could almost hear its voice."
She spoke as though reaching back through memory:
Erika should have evacuated alongside the residents of the Northern Frontier—yet as if guided by some unseen force, she had found herself tilting her head back to stare up at that towering creature.
High in the sky, the black dragon's eyes remained fixed on her.
And Erika felt as though she could hear the voice within the black dragon's mind.
"Come with me... leave this place."
"That was what the voice said to me."
Erika kept her head low, her words clear and certain.
What followed was already familiar.
Erika had sought out the black dragon herself, quelled its fury, and saved the lives of tens of thousands in the Northern Frontier.
"So I left with it. When I woke up again, I found myself here."
Even Auréliane lifted her head at that, turning her gaze toward Erika.
Gwen's eyes held a flicker of something moved.
If the account was true, then the young woman before her had single-handedly saved tens of thousands of lives in the Northern Frontier.
Her sacrifice left Gwen with a deep respect.
The story was difficult to fabricate—after all, if things had unfolded as Erika described, tens of thousands of residents in the Northern Frontier would have witnessed it firsthand.
News of an event that significant would inevitably spread.
All it would take was sending someone to make a few discreet inquiries to verify whether Erika's account was true.
"Mm... do you know the elemental attribute of that creature?"
At that moment, Cocotte suddenly spoke. She sat atop her cloud, arms folded.
Magical Creatures all possessed elemental attributes—these determined what corresponding elemental skills they could use.
For instance, creatures that lived on volcanoes were nearly all Fire-attribute, and Wood-attribute creatures naturally made their homes in forests.
Relationships of dominance and suppression also existed between these elemental attributes.
All of this was foundational knowledge taught at the Academy.
Erika nodded without a moment's hesitation.
"Wind."
As she spoke, she drifted into recollection:
"The black dragon's body emerged from between the dark, oppressive cloud layers, a raging storm swirling around its entire form."
"Twisting hurricanes rose straight up from the earth—even the solid sea ice below the surface was torn free, shredded by the storm into ice crystals."
Cocotte listened to Erika's description, closed her eyes, and gave a slow nod.
"Mm, mm—as I thought."
Auréliane quickly raised her head and looked toward Cocotte.
"Council Member Yadh—do you know something about this?"
"Err, well..."
Cocotte seemed somewhat troubled and didn't answer directly. Instead, she looked back at Erika.
"But I'm a bit curious—why did this creature seek you out in particular."
"Come to think of it, I recall you fell gravely ill some time ago, and your body was covered in vivid, blooming flowers and grass—do you remember that?"
Erika nodded.
"I do. That was roughly 1 or 2 months ago."
The memory of that last time she had fallen unconscious was still vivid in Erika's mind.
Cocotte nodded, then turned her gaze to Auréliane.
"Little Princess, you still remember being brought to the Mage Council by Viktor that one time, yes?"
Auréliane gave a quick nod.
It was precisely that occasion that had let Auréliane experience firsthand just how formidable her teacher truly was.
Cocotte, for her part, rested her chin in her hand with the air of someone who had pieced something together. Her eyes settled on Erika as she gave a small nod.
"How to put it—I have indeed come to understand a few things."
There was a trace of surprise in her gaze.
Because...
Just as the Calamity of Wind had sought out Erika.
The resurrection of the Calamity of Wood, and the period during which Erika had fallen ill.
The timing... matched.